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April 14, 2014; In Singapore the Philippine embassy has announced about the phasing out of the green and maroon Philippine passports and it has gained lots of public attention. For the record, it has been read 1.2 million times on facebook and has gained so many comments from and discussions from Filipinos in Singapore and other countries. The issue went viral and it has been shared and posted on walls of different people, especially OFWs.

The post was on the Philippine Embassy – Singapore Facebook account and it has caused a lot of anxiety to Filipino OFWs,
especially household workers. The thing is most of them are only given
day offs on Sundays. It means to say that they can renew their passports
on this date. But since the schedule has been moved to weekdays only,
it is a struggle for them.

The issue now is on those who would like to travel internationally after six months and this is a confusion due to the fact that they need to check their passports if it is expiring because of the restrictions of other countries with regards to this.

A clarification was done by the embassy with regards to the announcement of the DFA that the green and maroon passports can only be used on the given date. According to Philippine Embassy in Singapore First Secretary and Consul Mersole Mellejor, the announcement on Facebook gained traction because of the Filipinos in other countries.

The original post has been shared by 22,891 accounts, liked by 11,321, and commented 848 times.
With the issue, the OFWs are opted for adjustment in their schedules with regards to renewing their passports. The post that spread is a reminder that the news is quick but the responses of the people are quicker.